Simon928

Sweet. Thanks!

69gaugeman

Yes. This connector gets replaced with the weatherpak one. Makes connection (and disconnection) much easier. Also is is waterproof, so no corrosion will happen. This happens to this connector all the time.

Simon928

So, I finally stripped the engine down to the heads last night. I know I'm a noob, but I sure wasn't expecting to see this. Check out the descriptions for each photo--cylinder 5 was the one that was leaking.

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjHNWeMs

The head gaskets look brand new! Based on how filthy my engine bay is, I figured that there was no way that anyone could've been in there recently (if ever), but there's no way these gaskets are original.

That being said, I can't see where there is a tear in the gasket or enough corrosion in the heads to cause a leak. Please fill me in if I'm missing something, but the only obvious thing that I can think of is that there might have been some debris between the head and the gasket which prevented a good seal and allowed some coolant through. Like I said, the engine is filthy, and when I pulled the heads I did see some debris on the underside of the gasket, but I can't say for sure whether or not it fell there as I removed the heads or not. I guess another possibility is that I have a cracked head or something like that instead of a fault with the gasket seal, but I don't see anything obvious.

And since the heads are out, is it everyone's opinion that I should get them machined down? And especially considering my experience level (or lack thereof), do you think I should stop here or go deeper and take a look at rods/bearing/valves etc?

It's a long weekend coming up over here and I should have some spare time, and I want to get as much done on this car as possible over the next week. I see lots of engine cleaning in my immediate future.

As always, I'm looking forward to hearing your expert opinions!

BRB-83-911SC

Nice work Simon. It looks to me (and I am quite the novice) like evidence of coolant wash on the head for #5. See what I circled below. Take a real close look at the corresponding area on the gasket.

BRB-83-911SC

Here is what a bit of elbow grease can do for your engine. Intersting that your piston tops are different than mine (I have an early 84 with the 10.0:1 CR). I didn't expect to see dished piston tops for a later 84 - expected flat tops with shallower valve relief cutouts. What say the experts?

Simon928

Thanks! I'll take a look at that specific area on the other side of the gasket when I get home, as I don't have a pic of that on me right now. I don't see anything on the top side in that area that looks troublesome, but I guess that if there was a problem there it would be on the bottom of the gasket. And that's an interesting comment regarding the pistons...I hope everything is okay! My VIN is WP0JB0920ES860687 if that helps.

Pretty looking engine, btw! That's what I'm aspiring for.

BRB-83-911SC

Just realized yours is a US spec, mine's a Euro - so that probably explains the differences in piston tops...

123quattro

I have a US 84 and my pistons are dished as well.

Simon928

Phew, that's good to know.

BTW, is it okay for me to rotate the engine on the stand in it's current condition so that I can work on the oil pan gasket? Here is a pic of the engine as it is now.

jeff spahn

Yep, you can rotate it. Just don't do it with the lifters in and not the cams on.

BRB-83-911SC

I assume you have drained the oil, and I would remove the oil filter so that any residual oil doesn't drain out while upside down. Also a good idea when cleaning the piston tops (if you choose to do so) to have the engine rotated so that any solvent/debris drains out into a drip pan.

Also, your lifters are inside the cam towers, as I am sure you know - so no worries there when rotating the engine. It is a good idea to be sure the lifters go back into the same bore, if you should remove them from the cam towers.

Simon928

Great advice everyone, thanks!

What do you all think about machining the heads? Is that something that I should definitely do since they are out of the car or should I not bother if it isn't absolutely necessary? And should I worry about inspecting the rods/valves etc.? To be honest I wouldn't really know what good or bad looks like when it comes to those things.

BRB-83-911SC

What is the mileage on your engine? Did you have any running issues, other than the head gasket leak, that would indicate something was wrong? How was your oil consumption? Did you overheat ever? Did you encounter hydrolock by trying to start the car with #5 full of coolant? At a minimum, you may want to have your heads checked for trueness, espcially if you don't see a gasket breach.

Mine had 38k miles, so we saw no reason to check rod bearings, etc. My heads and block mating surfaces cleaned up nicely, and checked out flat, so I didn't have them surfaced. I replaced valve stem seals, just because it was easy to do. I focused more on the anciliary stuff - injectors cleaned, MAF rebuilt, fuel lines, hoses, TB/WP, OPG, Motor Mounts, etc. - stuff that perishes with time.

I would wait for more expert opinion than mine, though.

Simon928

The engine has roughly 120000 miles on it. Is hydrolock when you try starting the car but the ignition just cuts completely because the cylinder is full of water? If so, then yeah, that happened a few times before I realized what was happening. No poor running issues once it got started up and ran for a few miles though (after it finished burning off the coolant, of course. )

BRB-83-911SC

I have never encountered hydrolock, but I would think it would feel like the starter is trying to turn the engine over but meeting with great resistance (trying to compress water in the cylinder). If there was enough air in there as well (i.e. not completely full of water), there may be enough compressability to rotate the motor enough to open a valve and let the water out.

I'm not sure that the starter would even have enough power to cause damage....

Again, I'm no expert, so let's see what they say.